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A LETTER, THE FIRST THING I AGREE WITH, THAT USAPA HAS DONE................[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,sans-serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif]IT WILL PROBABLY FALL ON DEAF EARS IN TEMPE! [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,sans-serif][FONT=Arial,sans-serif]GOOD LUCK EVERYONE![/FONT][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial,sans-serif]Fellow Pilots,[/FONT] The following letter was sent yesterday to CEO Doug Parker from USAPA President Steve Bradford:
US Airline Pilots Association
5821 Fairview Rd., Suite 400
Charlotte, NC 28209
[FONT=Arial,sans-serif]877-678-7272[/FONT]
August 19, 2008
Dear Mr. Parker, During the pre-pilot bid conference calls and meetings, USAPA was informed that the furloughs resulting from the upcoming East and West bids were due solely to industry hardships created by the cost of fuel. This was reiterated by you at the recent CLT Crew News Event this month, where you stated that furloughs were not associated with contract talks, but rather due to fuel costs. On June 12, relevant USAPA Committees had their first conference call with Management regarding the upcoming pilot bid driven by the announced furloughs. At that time the price of crude oil was $136.74/bbl and rising. On July 4, 2008, the price of crude oil hit $145.74/bbl and was still rising. Times are changing, and it now appears that the bubble has burst with oil prices predictably falling as oil speculators retreat with their profits. In addition, the US Dollar is now gaining strength in the international markets. As I write this the price of oil has dropped to under $113/bbl. It is also worth noting that US Airways has progressive competitors looking to gain market share as we furlough and retreat. So there we have it, oil off nearly 30%=2 0from its high and slipping, and a stronger US Dollar. On behalf of our pilots who are facing extreme financial hardship due to the pending furloughs, we must ask the question, “Since the furloughs are the result of rising fuel costs and the fuel costs are now retreating, has the Company considered canceling the furloughs and instead position itself to compete aggressively in the marketplace?” In addition to the human impact, there are other factors that support an end to the furloughs. The East has already started extensive and costly training for the October bid. There were 426 displacements just on East bid 08-04, which generated a total of 384 training events. The West Displacement Bid will also generate significant training events, leading cumulatively to enormous Pilot training costs for the Company. In addition, there is the question of timing, concerning when, if ever, the Company will realize cost savings from the furloughs given the consequent training events. We cannot predict where oil will go from here, however the current retreat in oil prices offers you a wonderful opportunity for bold leadership. Stop the furloughs, save the training costs, and compete aggressively in the market place. Your positive actions would also give a much needed boost to your professional employees who make US Airways Fly, and could help restore some sorely lac king confidence in Management. Finally, there is nothing that will preclude you from reinstating a future cutback should oil prices increase.
Sincerely, Stephen Bradford
President, US Airline Pilots Association
Captzaahlie -- Interesting that you got a copy -- thanks for posting. Out West, we never hear from our CBA (self-appointed, non-elected) Leadership. USAPA hasn't said word one to us West dudes about to be furloughed. Zero about how they worked with management for early retirements. Zero about how they are working for COBRA coverage for pilots and family members. Zero about how they asked the company to lower the minimum so that we could keep folks on-board. And Zero about how they were working to correct the furloughs out of Seniority. Not even a FACT SHEET about your benefits and rights upon furlough, and we have dudes going out the door in 10 days. Why ... because USAPA doesn't care about the West and I doubt they even brought those subjects up with management. USAPA doesn't even know the total training costs or number of training events for the West to use in the letter to Parker. Management cares about one thing, money. IF USAPA had quantified, it is going to cost you $3.5M to retrain pilots and $8M is furlough pay for the 300 furloughs that would be one thing ... but to talk about positioning the new US Airways for aggressive expansion? What drugs are they taking? We are losing money. With a projected loss this year of $1.5B, it comes to $100+M a month. The company doesn't care about $10M in furlough costs -- it is getting smaller. The economy is going downhill and it is going to take a Major (or a couple of minors) to go away for every airline (minus SWA) to get better. Until then it is just a "save cash, burn as little as possible" game. Even at $120 a barrel. The company has already announced it will be 7-10 % smaller next year and in 2010 again. Two words -- MORE FURLOUGHS. If USAPA thinks we can expand in the current environment they are smoking weed. They'd be much better off working to bring the pilots groups together so that we could fight management together than recommending an aggressive expansion plan to management. Here is the secret management plan, use the pilot turmoil USAPA has created to lower labor costs and work rules as far as possible (bottom of the industry) to keep the carrier afloat as long as possible so management can collect their salary. Thanks for nothing USAPA!
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